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Harvard: Hail Satan?

The Catholic Church is raising concerns about a mass that's scheduled to be held at Harvard University because they say the ceremony is "evil."

The scene will be the basement Harvard's rambling Memorial Hall, where a black - or satanic - mass will be hosted by the Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club. The mass will be performed by the Satanic Temple of New York, whose official website features, among other things, a depiction of Satan being dispelled from the garden. The website says the society's every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought.

"Don't be naive," Father Michael Drea said.

Father Drea, the pastor of St. Paul's Catholic Church in Harvard Square and chaplain of the Harvard Catholic Center, says a black or satanic mass has historically been a mockery of Roman Catholic mass and frequently also mocks the Virgin Mary. He rejects the notion that his is all about academic freedom.

"You know, I can't see any type of a deliberate act of hatred or bigotry directed toward any group, religious or secular, as an academic expression. i can't quite understand how that would happen," Drea said.